Saturday, January 31, 2009

If you know me well enough you know that I adore JCrew - especially since Jenna Lyons, the SVP of Women's Design, has been on board . I love how they mix colors, textures, accessories, etc. They create what I'm looking for - classic looks with a twist. Their photo styling is inspirational as well and I look forward to flipping through their catalog every time it comes in the mail. Here is a look at Spring - yummy!

Now, don't forget the kiddos - Crewcuts has amazing looks as well. So amazing that I wish they made some of the styles, silhouettes, etc. in my size!

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Enjoy and just remember (for those of us in the Midwest that just got hit with 12.5" inches of snow!) that Spring is right around the corner - we can make it!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

We are preparing for Amelia's 4th birthday party and this year she is sharing the celebration with her friend Jesse. Jesse's mom, Kelly, and myself are the best of friends and the two of them are only 5 weeks apart. So, we thought what better way to celebrate than together.

The next challenge was deciding on a theme that could work for both a boy and a girl, but never fear - we just took inspiration directly from this past Halloween! Star Wars was the theme this past October and Amelia was the cutest Princess Leah with her adorable hairdo (no need for the wig that came with the costume!) and Jesse was the most handsome Luke Skywalker. Star Wars it is - so I whipped up the invitation shown above for all of their friends to join us in a galaxy far, far, away...

Here we are together at Kelly's annual Halloween party - me doing my best Audrey Hepburn impersonation and Princess Leah ready to defend herself with her light sabor if needed!

We're looking forward to a fun celebration and will be sure to have highlights here once the whole shabang is over!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I am ready for Spring and warmer weather as I am sure we all are. I've had my eye on this color palette for a little while now and especially loved how J.Crew pulled them together during the Holidays. The more I see it the more I love it - looks like this color palette will be making it into my wardrobe sooner than later!

Amelia (AKA Mia) turned 4 last week and she made sure her celebration was as unique as she is!

As we were approaching Amelia's birthday we kept asking her what kind of party she wanted. Did she want to go to Chuck E Cheese, a bowling party, etc. The only piece of information we could get out of her is that she wanted a cake with a girl riding on a motorcycle - interesting, huh?! Well, leave it to Joe's parents (who get the kids a cake for all of their birthdays) to grant her the one birthday wish she had. She was as happy as could be and the cake turned out better than what my imagination had originally come up with when she first requested "a girl riding on a motorcycle cake"!

Her celebration has been quiet and small so far - no big party yet. Instead, we are planning to share her party at the end of the month with her best boy friend, Jesse, who is only 5 weeks younger than her. I'll be sure to post party pics of the two of them!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The week prior to Christmas I was heading to take Amelia up to bed when Joe was channel surfing and found A Christmas Story. We stopped to watch because it was the scene when the "leg lamp" was delivered to their home. We finished watching and then went on up to bed. Little did I know what that 5 minute clip would mean to our near future!

As we were heading up the stairs Amelia started asking questions like, "Mommy, where is her other leg?" and "How will she get her leg back?", and on and on. Amelia is the queen of 20 questions so I just went with the flow and didn't think anything about it. It wasn't until the next day that I realized we might have an issue because she brought up the "leg" again.

Each night we have to go through all of the leg questions again along with assuring her that the "leg won't come into her room to get her". Not only has this dramatically changed our bedtime routine, but it has changed our bathroom routine. You ask how? Well, suddenly she cannot go potty by herself. She now will come to us and ask, "Will you watch me go potty?" - can you believe it? It doesn't matter what time of day it is - she doesn't want to go potty by herself. The poor girl is afraid to be by herself because she thinks the "leg is going to get her".

What are we to do? Bedtime is now a nightmare including tears and multiple tries along with having to chaperon potty time. If I had only known!!! The "leg" has taken my self-confident, independent almost 4 year old and turned her into a fearful legophobic!!!

So, just a warning to all you other mom's out there - beware of the "leg"!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

As I begin to share with you "my storey", I thought it might be nice for me to share with you our family in more detail - you know, the real scoop! This way you'll be prepared in the future - you'll remember back to this post and say, "Yep, that is exactly how she described Joe, Wyatt and Amelia!".

I also wanted to be able to share with you the great photos my long-time friend Loree was able to capture of our family this past September. She did a wonderful job and somehow made us all look amazing - I think a large amount of photo editing was done on her part!!!! Please stop by her blog to see her other work and be sure to keep her in mind if you live in the Indianapolis area.

Well, if you know his dad you would completely understand where the class clown trait comes from. My husband has an amazing sense of humor and can keep everyone rolling. I fell in love with him and his sense of humor over 14 years ago - although, now some jokes aren't so funny anymore!

Wyatt is willing to try any sport. Soccer, flag football, basketball, and wrestling (I'll spare you the photos of his skinny body in a singlet) - but his one true love is football. No longer am I able to persuade him to wear his stripe polo shirt over the solid long sleeve tee or his rugby shirts with his chinos - it is all about football jerseys around here. This past year he actually had a wonderful flag football season and was nicknamed Wyatt "The Mangler" Storey. I am his biggest cheerleader, but I don't think he'll have a long career since neither my husband or myself were too athletically inclined!

He has the sweetest most tender heart and I love him to pieces. He has his moments - no perfect child here, but he is a light in our lives!

Amelia is our almost 4 year old spunky, independent daughter who lives life to it's fullest.

When I say spunky I mean the girl keeps us on our toes. At age 2 she had mastered pushing the chair over to the pantry, climbing on to the third shelf, grabbing the pack of gum, shoving the piece of gum in her mouth, climbing down, abandoning the chair in the pantry and on to the next thing in less than 10 seconds flat. To this day she still tells people that she got "kicked out of nastics" which translates to mommy had to withdraw her from her gymnastics class due to her distracting behavior. From what I hear, she is a spittin' image of me and I turned out okay so there isn't anything to worry about - right???

She is so full of life and has no problem taking charge of whatever situation comes her way. Although, she should have come with a list of instructions: no markers or paint even when supervised, no red chapstick, can unlock advil bottles, etc. We love her to pieces as well and are sure that we'll have many more adventures headed our way with her.

Joe is my comedic, supportive Italian stallion (did I just really say that?) husband! He makes up for so many of my short comings and I don't think any other man would be able to put up with my inadequacies when it comes to my domestic pursuits. He cooks, cleans (that means toilets, girls), does laundry and the list goes on. He puts up with my workaholic, blogaholic, facebookaholic tendencies and still loves me at the end of the day. Wow, I've painted a pretty good picture of everyone in our family except for myself, huh?

The truth is I am blessed and I need to stop and reflect on that a little more - maybe this post was as much for me as it was for you.

Well, welcome to our family and ya'll come back now (yep, originally from Nashville, TN)!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

I've caught the bug to start my own blog so that I can share with you - my storey! I'm not new to the blog world, but just new to having the title of "blog author" (no pressure, right?!). I am so inpsired by what so many families, designers, photographers, etc. have been sharing and now I'd like to actively participate. I'll plan on giving you a glimpse into my life - in no time you'll be familar with my husband and kids, my mom, my work, my projects, and my inspirations.

I am married to an amazing man, Joe, who definately balances out my short comings - you'll quickly learn that I am no domestic goddess (cooking and cleaning are not appealing to me). I have two wonderful children, Wyatt and Amelia, that bring joy into my life each day (sometimes Amelia brings a tightening in my chest - oops, did I just say that?). I'm sure I'll have entertaining storey's to share with you as this year unfolds - you know, the joys and struggles of motherhood!

I work daily with my mom, Paula Prass, who is an interior designer, artist, manufacturer of her own line of home decor and now a textile designer for Michael Miller Fabrics. A little over 3 years ago I left my job in the apparel industry as a Director of Product Development and Design so that I could join forces with her. We haven't looked back since and I am so thankful to have a job that I love.

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About Me

I am a mother to two wonderful kids and I work as an Independent Stella & Dot Stylist! I have a background in the fashion industry, but left 6 years ago to spend more time with my kids. This blog will be my place to share my love for family, fashion, and design. Enjoy!